In the first game of the follow-up season to his brilliant 2011 campaign, Cruz suffered through an uneven game. He dropped three passes in the Giants’ season-opening 24-17 loss to the Cowboys at MetLife Stadium, one of the reasons why the team’s offense never got into a sustained rhythm.

“There’s no excuses for me,” Cruz said. “I have to catch those footballs.”

Cruz also didn’t get the benefit of the doubt on a key third-and-goal play in the second quarter when Cowboys corner Orlando Scandrick appeared to push him. Instead, there was no call, Eli Manning’s pass fell incomplete and the Giants had to kick a field goal.

Last season, Cruz was the Giants’ best offensive weapon other than Manning, racking up 82 catches for a franchise-record 1,536 yards and nine touchdowns. He finished last night with a respectable six catches for 58 yards, both team highs, but was targeted a team-high 11 times.

Cruz’s first drop came on the Giants’ first possession of the season as the team faced a third-and-5 from its own 21-yard line. Manning’s pass to Cruz was slightly behind him but certainly catchable — and Cruz missed it.

Drop No. 2 came on the Giants’ final drive of the first half, on first-and-10 play from the team’s 30. Manning fired to a wide-open Cruz, who appeared to look away and dropped it.

Finally, with 4:38 left in the game and the Giants at the Dallas 37, Manning lofted a pass to Cruz, who was battling Scandrick and safety Gerald Sensabaugh. The pass hit a jumping Cruz in the chest, but he couldn’t hold on. The Giants ultimately scored a touchdown on the drive, but they wasted precious time because of the drop.

“Victor sometimes has concentration lapses where he tries to run before he catches the ball,” coach Tom Coughlin said. “It was just a concentration lapse and something he’s got to continue to work on.”